Dear Marge,

Back in the 1880s our (yours and mine) great grandmother and grandfather lived on the island of Texel, in the village of Cocksdorp. He was the village blacksmith and he had a brother named Adrian [sic Marinus] who had gone to America and was quite successful in a business way as the founder of the South Halsted Street Iron Works. Our great-grandparents were Tryntje and Mathias Vanderkloot. They had ten children, listed as follows. Adrian (who I think was your grandfather, although I always heard him spoken of as Oom Janus), Klaas, Marinus, Agnes (Matt Kooger's mother), Peter (Dr. Al's father), Maatje, Mathias, Jennie (my grandmother Eelman), Cornelius and John.

Three or four of the older boys came to Chicago in 1880 to work for their Uncle Adrian [sic Marinus] because there were not many opportunities for young people in Holland at the time. Two or three years later their mother and father and the younger children joined them, but Klaas and Maatje stayed at Cocksdorp. Klaas became the village blacksmith and Maatje married Pieter Zeylemaker, the village school teacher. Klaas never married so there is no one named "Vanderkloot" left in Holland but the Piet Zeylemaker I write to, is the grandson of Maatje Vanderkloot Zeylemaker.

Dr. Al tells me that a few years ago he and Pearl visited the Cocksdorp and the houses are still there and so is the Smithy. Dr. Al's mother's name was Dros and she was the only one from her family to emigrate so he has Dros relatives that he has contact with. His grandmother Dros and your grandmother both had the maiden name of Tanis. They were first cousins. There might be some of the Tanis family there.

• The letter was transcribed with some minor spelling and grammar changes to improve readability.
• The Adrian mentioned as Matthij's brother, the founder of the South Halsted Street Iron works was actually the son of Matthij's brother Marinus. It was Marinus who had started the Vanderkloot Iron Works in 1872. See Vanderkloot Article from the History of Chicago. The founder, Marinus, died in 1891 and his son Adrian became president.
• Oom Janus translates as Oom (Uncle) Janus (unknown at this time).
• It's useful to note that Jannetje Eelman, nee van der Kloot was known as Jennie and not Janet in America.

• The three or four boys mentioned that came over in 1880 were Peter, Adrianus and Marinus. They were the first to come. We know Adrianus came in August 1881.
• Bertha Dros who married Peter Vanderkloot was the cousin in Texel that introduced Martha Tanis to Adrianus. Bertha and Martha's common grandparent were Dirk and Cornelia Tanis who lived in Texel from about 1835 until through the 1870s. Bertha's mother, Krijntje, stayed in Texel and married Albert Dros.

• Go to the Tanis Story Outline
• Go to the Vanderkloot Story Outline
• Go to the Tanis Initial Page
• Go to the Vanderkloot Intial Page